Summary: In this episode, we look at how two non-native English speakers damaged their writing by using perfectly "legal" English words that no English speaker ever heard. Listen to the episode here: Or <a title="Subscribe to Word Shots in iTunes" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/word-shots-the-podcast/id611651233%20" target="_blank">subscribe in iTunes</a>. Full transcript (headings aren't in audio): Last week I talked about who gets to decide whether something that might be a word is in fact a word. And I suggested that the right answer is not the makers of dictionaries, but the best writers. Are Dictionaries Valuable? Now, that may have prompted the question whether I believe dictionaries are valuable at all. The answer is that I’m sure they are valuable. Reference books on words and grammar and usage are valuable. Some are more valuable than others, of course, because some are better than others. This week I’m going to talk about two specific instances in my career as a writer and editor in which a dictionary did not provide the right solution to the problem I faced. First, though—spoiler alert—since I’m going to tell you that you can possibly do without a dictionary, I’m going to tell you what one book you really ought to have on your shelf if you want to attain to great heights as a wordsmith. That book is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195382757/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0195382757&linkCode=as2&tag=brighhatcommu-20">Garner's Modern American Usage</a>, by Bryan A. Garner. I recommend the third edition, published in 2009. The last time I looked, it cost only about $26 at Amazon. Now, a couple of issues to discuss. Usage and Grammar Guides: Don’t Pay Classroom Prices First, why do I recommend the third edition? Well, let’s reverse that and ask why I wouldn’t recommend the most recent edition of a book. And that is an excellent question. There are a number of books that I recommend, but not necessarily in their lastest editions. The reason is that many of these books are used in classrooms. And in nearly every case in which a book is commonly used in the classroom, that book is reissued too often. Why? Because when your professor puts a book on a reading list, students are expected to buy the specified edition. This makes all kinds of sense. When the professor in class says, “Let’s turn to page 72 and look at the chart there,” it really helps if that chart is in fact on page 72 for everybody. This isn’t very likely if students are using different editions. Now, if you’re a book publisher, and you publish a new edition every ten years, then during several of those years you’ll see your annual sales decreasing steadily, even though the same number of students are being assigned your book every year. This happens because with every passing year, the number of used copies of your book increases, and students will happily pay less money on the used market than for the new copy, since they get the same book either way. So, if your goal is to maximize profits, you’ll want to issue new editions fairly often, since each time you do so, you make the used copies of almost no value to current students; they have to buy the new. For example, the Little, Brown franchise publishes a very good book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0205213073/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0205213073&linkCode=as2&tag=brighhatcommu-20">The Little, Brown Handbook</a>. I bought a copy some years ago, and I was very impressed with it. The first edition of the Handbook came out in 1980. It’s currently in its 12th edition, published in 2011. This means the book has been updated roughly every two and a half years. The current edition lists for $73.49. Used copies of older editions can be had for under ten dollars. Thus, this book is one that I recommend, but unless you’ll need to read the same materials with the same pagin...
